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NBA All-Stars Try CrossFit

Jameer Nelson and Jason Terry square off in a friendly CrossFit competition with hilarious results.

by
Sunil Ramsamooj

NBA All-Star weekend is arguably the second biggest event for NBA fans, after the playoffs. The event as a whole was in jeopardy due to the NBA lockout, but thanks to some negotiations, fans were granted a shortened season, making this All-Star game all the more sweeter. In the shadow of the Amway center, where the festivities were held, NBA point guards Jameer Nelson of the Orlando Magic and Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks decided to square off in a little competition the Saturday of the All-Star weekend. Thanks to Reebok, the two premiere NBA guards were able to test their skills outside of the basketball court in a CrossFit competition held at the CROSSFIT Fire Base. Both NBA stars put their skills to the test, performing CrossFit staples like running, ring pull-ups, squats and box jumps. To make it a true competition, both Nelson and Terry were given partners. Nelson was teamed up with actor/comedian Bill Bellamy and rapper Jadakiss joined Terry’s team.

Both teams then went head-to-head in a relay CrossFit competition. Nelson seemed to have a bit more experience in working the CrossFit course, but Terry often caught up with speed during the running section. Actor Anthony Anderson gave a play by play of events, as he was the evening's MC. In the end, Jason was close to winning but in a freak accident, threw a ring after doing a set of ring pull-ups. The heavy metal ring shot out from his hand and hit Anthony Anderson in the face, busting his lip, but more on that later. Terry said it best, summing up the competition with the words, “It was fun, it was entertaining.” Terry has recently incorporated CrossFit into his workouts. “This is the first year that I’ve done CrossFit and put it into my workout regimen. It’s been great. I was looking for a challenge when I went into the offseason after winning a championship—looking for new ways to reinvent myself—and CrossFit fell into my lap. I’ve never been challenged like that in years of off training but it's something that I will continue to do in the future. “ Nelson agreed with the challenging aspect of it, suggesting CrossFit has the ability of “making working out a sport, not a chore.” As for Anderson’s tooth, the following exchange took place when we asked Terry about the incident: Jason Terry: That was probably the most disappointing part of the competition, though entertaining. But what I think happened, he got a little over excited and he jumped into the ring—I didn’t throw it. Anthony Anderson: Really? Did I hear the word “jumped”? No, actually I was standing there rooting and cheering Jason Terry on to victory because that was the team that I picked to win. We were in the lead at that particular time but he was so excited that I was there cheering for him and that we were wining that when we got to 15, he threw the rings carelessly striking me in the mouth. I didn’t know they were metal until the blood trickled from my lips. No no, I didn’t jump into anything. I was stationary.